The present invention relates to a rotary parlor for automatic milking of animals, wherein the parlor comprises an annular rotary platform adapted to form a support surface for the animals, driving means for supplying a rotary motion to the platform, positioning means for arranging the animals in predetermined milking positions on the platform, in which a longitudinal axis of the animals forms an angle to the direction of motion of the animals standing on the rotary platform, and a robot arm adapted to attach teat cups to the teats of an animal which has entered a milking position.
In a conventional rotary milking parlor, the cows walk on to an annular rotating platform and enter a milking stall. An operator, who is located on the inside or on the outside of the annular platform, attaches a milking member to the teats of the cows. The platform rotates continuously with a constant low speed such that the milking processes of the cows have been finished when the cows have rotated nearly 360 degrees on the platform. The continuous flow of cows causes rotary parlors to have a high milking capacity. However, a condition for a well working milking parlor is the existence of the operator who manually attaches the milking members to the cows.
EP 689 762 shows a rotary parlor for automatic milking of animals. A robot arm is here used for the attachment of teat cups to cows standing in a milking position on an annular platform. The robot arm is movably arranged on a rail track, which runs in an internal position of the annular platform along a part of its inner periphery. However, the use of such a robot arm is restricted to parlors having milking position for the cows in the driving direction of the platform, such that it is possible for the robot arm to attach the teat cups to the cows from the side. However, a close positioning of the animals on the platform, which is a condition for an effective use of a rotary parlor, is not possible to achieve with such a design of the milking positions.